


Cancer (One Shot)

by kissperingniall



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-28
Updated: 2013-12-28
Packaged: 2018-01-06 11:11:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1106126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissperingniall/pseuds/kissperingniall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry falls in love with his cancer patient, Niall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cancer (One Shot)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before I rewrote the full fledged story to Cancer. It was an anonymous request and I fell in love with it so much that after this I decided to make it a chaptered version with more details. I hope you like this little one shot.

Harry Styles always wondered how he had ended up here. No, not how he ended up in the cancer ward of St. Mary’s, but how he ended up in this predicament. When had he ever decided that becoming a doctor was the best idea he had, and why had he decided to specialize in cancer? There still wasn’t a cure. Obviously. But for some reason, he was on the verge of a breakthrough in finding a vaccine. Or at least he thought he was. Tracing back through his memories, he remembered the day that the idea of becoming a cancer doctor was significant to him. It wasn’t hard to remember it, but sometimes, suppressing the memory of it helped him move forward in life.

While interning, Harry had met a boy that went by the name, Niall. He was pale in complexion with eyes as blue as the ocean and appeared to have been dipped in sunlight. His hair was obviously bleached since the brunette roots were beginning to show. He was an attractive young man, couldn’t have been older than nineteen. Harry wondered why he’d been in the hospital, but quickly found out that Niall had been diagnosed with leukemia a month ago. Dr. Payne had given Harry the gravest look when they entered Niall’s room, something Harry would learn was a doctors biggest tell-tell that there was something horribly wrong with the patient.

“Good morning, Niall. How are you feeling?” Dr. Payne asked, settling himself on the stool next to the hospital bed. Harry stood by the door, watching the doctor and the patient converse.

“I don’t feel too great, doc’. I think I have a bit of a fever,” Niall answered and sure enough, the boy was running a one hundred two degree temperature. Dr. Payne had Harry fetch a bag of ice and a few ibuprofen’s for him, to which Niall took gladly. After being tended to, Dr. Payne was called out of the room for a few moments, leaving Harry with the sickly blonde. “Hey, who are you?”

Green eyes flicked up from the floor to greet the sun dipped sapphires across the way. “I’m Harry.”

“Niall. Are you an intern? You look pretty young.”

“Yeah, second year in medical uni. Gotta have a head start.”

Niall forced a half-smile, giving a slight nod. “I wonder what it would’ve been like to go to uni.” Harry pulled up a chair next to the blonde and smiled.

“What would you have gone for?”

His half-smile curved into a full one, showing off his braces that seemed almost ready to come off. “Music production. I would’ve liked to have made music more than anything, but I’m so weak that I can’t even hold my guitar anymore.” Harry’s heart dropped as well as his facial expression. He pushed the rolling chair over to Niall’s clipboard and flipped through the medical documents.

“Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. No wonder,” he murmured to himself, trying to fight back the surging sadness rushing through him. He wanted so desperately to say that everything would be all right, but lying to the poor boy wouldn’t help either of them. Instead, he met those beautiful blues again and smiled. “Maybe one day you can play me a song.”

Niall nodded, that smile returning to his handsomely young face. “Maybe.”

__

They started Niall’s chemotherapy two days later. Harry didn’t see him for almost a week because he was recovering. Dr. Payne had noticed that Niall had taken a liking to the intern and it seemed that Harry was feeling something akin to the blonde. He figured they’d be good for each other, keeping Niall company while Harry got in his hours. There’d be time later for more practices, but having a bond with the patient and helping to give them a sense of urgency to live was an important part to the process.

“I brought you something,” Harry informed, Niall’s pale skin beginning to glow a bit the moment he entered the room.

“Yeah?” Harry nodded, pulling his iPod out and handing one of the headphones over to the Irish lad. “What’s this?”

“I put together a playlist of songs I like and kind of figured you might.” Niall scrolled through the list of songs and there was a sort of glimmer to his eyes and Harry realized he was the first person he’d met to be able to smile with his eyes. Delighted from his reaction, Harry excitedly played one of the songs, Dream by Michael Bublé which brought an enjoyable feeling of warmth to Niall’s heart.

“How did you know I liked Bublé?” He asked.

Harry grinned. “I didn’t… But I hoped you did.” Niall weakly grabbed for Harry’s hand and squeezed lightly.

“Thank you.”

__

Harry spent the next several weeks with Niall, supportively sticking by his side even throughout the chemo sessions and the distraught days where he’d begin to lose tufts of his hair. He couldn’t tell if the boy was getting any better, but Dr. Payne advised that sometimes it took several sessions of chemotherapy before there were any signs of remission.

“Can I ask a favor?”

“Sure thing, Harry. What’s on your mind?” Dr. Payne answered, setting his clipboard down.

Letting out a timid sigh, Harry asked, “Is it all right if I take Niall outside?”

“Out… Side?”

“Yeah. Just in the courtyard of the hospital. I want to have lunch with him, but I want to show him that there’s still beauty in the world.” Biting his lip, he crossed his fingers. Dr. Payne thought it over for a moment, a serious expression gazing back at Harry.

“I suppose. But you’ve got an hour,” he approved and it brought a big smile to the brunette’s face, his distinctive dimple staring back at Dr. Payne.

Harry hopped to, heading towards Niall’s room, “Thanks, Dr. Payne!” Moving into the hospital room, Niall was staring out the window, bathing in the mid-afternoon light. “Good morning, Nialler! Rise and shine! The world is happy that you’re awake!” Blue eyes stared over to the excited boy, his expression remaining blank.

“Morning, Harry. What’s with all the commotion?”

“I’m taking you outside for lunch today. Isn’t that great?!”

But Niall didn’t seem all too excited about the idea. Harry didn’t really blame him. There wasn’t any sign that he was beating the leukemia, and he’d all but lost his hair, but Harry was determined to make sure Niall stayed happy, no matter what. He fished into the bag and pulled out a grey beanie, handing it over to Niall with a half-grin. “Hey, put this on. It won’t bring your hair back, but I always wear one whenever I have a bad hair day.” The boy took the beanie warily, staring at the grey fabric curiously before settling it on his balding head. A small smile curved his lips slightly up.

“Thank you. Now about that lunch.”

__

"I bought us Nandos. I hope that’s okay." Harry mentioned, looking to Niall for any sign of detest towards the choice of food but instead received a positive reaction, Niall’s face lighting up. 

"It’s more than okay!" He exclaimed, digging into the bag and pulling out the food items. "Nandos is my favorite. I haven’t had this in ages. Thank you."

Harry smirked. “Well you’re welcome. Anything to see that perfect smile of yours.” Niall was in mid bite when Harry complimented him, dropping his jaw and sending a rush of heat to his cheeks. The younger smiled, taking a drink from his water bottle. 

"When I get out of here, I’m gonna move t’ the states and make something of myself," Niall remarked after a long silence between them. Green eyes inspected the patient’s expression and saw nothing but sheer determination. It saddened Harry as he realized there was a high probability that Niall wouldn’t survive this. But cheering him on was the proper thing to do. Maybe if Niall had a bit of hope, he’d be strong enough to persevere. 

“That sounds like a plan, Nialler,” Harry whispered, taking the sickly boy’s hand into his and kissing it gently, intense emerald orbs peering gently into beautiful sapphires dotted with topaz speckles. “Would you mind if a humble medical intern tagged along?”

Niall’s heart sank. He swallowed hard and urged his drowning hummingbird of a heart to slow to a dull roar. “I wouldn’t mind at all,” he answered finally, smiling brightly at the idea of moving away with Harry. It was no secret that the two had a sort of bond that differed from normal friendship. To separate them would be pure cruelty. Now that Harry thought about it, he may not even have much time left with Niall. He just hoped there were enough memories to last him a lifetime.

“I’m glad,” Harry chuckled. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Niall frowned, his eyes lowering solemnly. He shook his head slowly, keeping his line of sight from meeting Harry’s. “Niall…” his voice trailed, hand extending out to cup a wet cheek dusted with red. “Oh, love. Why are you crying?” There was no answer; nevertheless, Harry wrapped his arms around the boy, encasing him in a safe cocoon as they rocked back and forth. He hoped it’d soothe him at least. Words weren’t needed. They both had learned to understand each other without them by now and Harry just knew that Niall was scared. It was in his body language, the way his fingers shook, and his chest hiccupped. Half of the battle was his willingness to stay strong and he didn’t blame Niall for losing hope at times. However, these times were the hardest. When Niall broke down, Harry lost it as well, feeling incredibly helpless to the situation because truthfully there was nothing he could do to fix things. Cancer was a dangerous woman to trifle with and the treatments could only do so much.

Harry knew Niall’s condition was getting worse by the day. He wouldn’t tell him, but all of his hair was gone. Niall didn’t check, he stopped checking when a huge clump of hair just fell out after scratching his head. Harry came back to reality when he felt how hot Niall’s head was, realizing that he had a fever yet again. Pulling the boy to his feet, he helped him up the steps back into the hospital where Dr. Payne took over from there. Harry silently watched Niall be tended to, his pale skin radiating such intense heat that Harry was frightened the fever would kill him. But Niall was stronger than that, and wouldn’t let a little cold beat him without fighting it.

Harry wasn’t sure he could say the same about the leukemia.

__

Today was a special day. It’d been another grueling week of chemotherapy and lots of rest for the Irish lad, but he was actually feeling better enough to come home. Dr. Payne said that there was a break in his treatment and Niall’s white blood cell count was at an almost normal rate, which meant Niall was free to spend some time with family and friends. Maura and Bobby, Niall’s mom and dad, were more than ecstatic to see their baby boy doing so much better after almost three months of wretched chemo sessions that didn’t even appear to be helping remotely. Harry grinned excitedly as he watched over the little family. He was uplifted by his family’s will to support their son in his fight.

Niall needed more positivity in his life. But there was a bit of a conflict between the young boy and his older brother. Greg was a different sort of lad, one of few words and even fewer supportive comments. As Harry came to learn, Greg was rebelling against everything in his life, fearing the worst: losing his kid brother. Harry guessed he understood why he would act out; he just didn’t see the point.

“Oh, and who’s this handsome young man,” Maura asked, her eyes directed at Harry and he felt the butterflies flutter around his stomach, a whole bunch of nerves telling him that nothing was scarier than meeting the parents. Not in that moment that was.

Niall smiled proudly, introducing Harry with his head held high. The younger was sure he was blushing, not that he could visibly see the burning sensation washing over his cheeks. Just watching the sickly boy talk about him made his heart race faster than he’d ever known, causing him to think he may die from a heart attack that certainly never happened.

“Harry, we want to thank you for spending everyday with our boy. We feel awful that we can’t always be there, but you can and you’re the reason why Niall has the strength to continue his fight.” It was Bobby that spoke this time. Harry gulped anxiously. Nothing surprised him more than this and they had only met him minutes ago.

“Would you like to join us for dinner?”

Harry grinned graciously. “That would be lovely, Mrs. Horan.”

“Call me Maura, dear. We’re all family here,” she returned, pulling Niall into a hug from the side, bringing Bobby and a reluctant Greg in as well. The curly brunette nodded.

“Thank you.”

__

“Sorry about my parents. They can be pretty embarrassing sometimes,” Niall apologized, the two sitting out on the back porch, watching the calm night linger by. Harry shook his head, a smile plastered to his face.

“Nah. I love that your family teases you and shows off pictures of baby Niall’s bum,” he chuckled and Niall pushed Harry lightly both of them laughing lightly.

Niall shook his head, readjusting the beanie before turning back to Harry. “All right, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Hmm?”

“Tell me about your first girlfriend.”

A nervous air swept over Harry at the thought of his first girlfriend. It was a strange question for him to ask, especially since it came out of nowhere, and Harry wasn’t particularly proud of this story. “What a peculiar question to ask. I’m not sure I want to answer it.”

With a chuckle, Niall shoved Harry again, “C’mon. You saw my bum, now you have t’ share something embarrassing.”

“I didn’t think you’re baby bum was embarrassing. I’m sure you have a cute butt, Niall.”

“That’s beside the point!” He exclaimed excitedly, bracing glistening in the moonlight. “Don’t be a wanker. Fess up!”

Laughing, Harry nodded, giving in and telling the story of Licky Vicky. She would always lick her lips, or her hands, or her papers or… pretty much anything she got a hold of. The class would always make fun of her, except Harry. Even though she was a bit odd, she was still kind of cute and Harry didn’t dislike her by any means. He had asked her to go to the dance with him and while slow dancing, she licked his neck, “…freaking me out so badly that I just ran for it. Afterwards I avoided her like the plague until she decidedly moved during the summer. I haven’t seen her since.”

Niall stared incredulously at Harry, shivering a bit at the idea of someone so obsessed with licking. “Wow, maybe I didn’t want t’ know about her.” Harry shoved him and they both burst into light hysterics.

“So, tell me, what was your first kiss like?” It was a simple and innocent question, but the subject made Niall tense up so badly several minutes passed before a single word was uttered between the two. “Niall?”

“I never had my first kiss.”

Freezing, Harry was in awe. “Really? A handsome guy like you never having his first kiss?”

Niall shrugged. “I wasn’t the most popular ya know? No one wanted to even look at me.”

“Why not?”

Sighing disdainfully, he groaned, “How am I supposed t’ know? I’ve never been one t’ make friends. You’re the first friend I’ve ever had, except Greg and he’s just my dumb older brother.” He tucked his chin into his knees, encircling his arms around them. “And at the rate I’m going, I’ll never have anyone special like that.”

“Hey hey hey, don’t talk like that,” Harry urged, scooting closer to the sickly boy. “And what do you mean you don’t have anyone special like that? Last I checked, you mean the world to me,” he defended, disregarding the nagging feeling of shyness. Niall looked up from his knees, peering over the curly haired boy with a curious look about him.

“What do you mean?” Harry jerked his head up, green meeting blue again. He quickly pressed his lips to Niall’s before hiding his face under his hoodie. Niall sat there, stunned to silence.

“I like you, all right?”

A few blinks and a small pinch later, Niall moved ever closer to Harry, their knees knocking together from their close proximity. “I like you too, Haz,” he replied, resting his head on Harry’s shoulder. “I honestly wouldn’t know what to do without you in my life.”

Finally letting out the oxygen he’d been holding in, his lips crept up into a small smile. “Just, promise me something.”

“What’s that?”

“Never stop fighting.”

__

He never broke that promise, but there was a definite calm before the storm. After a while, Niall had felt well enough to actually attend school. But the return was short lived when one day he fell incredibly ill, collapsing in the middle of class. When he arrived at the hospital, Harry had found dozens of bruises all over Niall’s porcelain skin. He was unconscious when he saw him too, leaving little encouragement for hope as he was rushed into ICU. Dr. Payne claimed that he did everything he could have done to save Niall.

Harry knew he wasn’t lying.

But sometimes, as he’d learned over the years, a different doctor did more than others could. Harry just wished he’d known that at the time.

“I don’t understand,” he sobbed, tears washing over his reddening face, hands turning white from holding onto Niall’s hand so tightly. He spoke to an unconscious form, the boy completely comatose. Harry bowed his head, resting it against his shoulder as he wept. He didn’t care if anyone saw him. This was someone he cared about more than anything in the world. This was his family, his brother, his soul mate, and he was slowly fading, slipping through his fingers. “Please. Please don’t leave me. You have to live. Not just for me, but for Maura, and Bobby, and Greg and for your music. You never even played me a song,” Harry’s cries were loud, the doctors outside the room sullenly bowing their heads, feeling for the intern. The cardiac monitor’s beeping slowed, alarming Harry to glance up, green eyes swollen and watery. “No! You can’t go goddammit!” Hands gripped the hospital gown; Niall’s unconscious body making no sign of movement except for the shaking Harry caused the bed. His breathing calmed significantly, and Harry just knew he didn’t have much time. If only he could tell the boy how he really felt about him, then none of this would feel unfinished.

He had prepared himself time and time again for this day, but all the prepping in the world couldn’t mask the sensation that painstakingly stretched his insides. There was a lump in his throat keeping a single word from being muttered, and something held Harry back. Maybe it was death stopping him from doing anything drastic, but what could he even do in the first place? Leukemia had her bony fingers wrapped around Niall’s frail body and Harry was helpless.

By some miracle, Niall’s heartbeat returned to normal along with his breathing and slowly, his eyes fluttered open, dulled blue eyes finding their green counterparts. His voice sounded battered as he spoke. “Harry…” Hands found each other, weak fingers linking with all too strong ones. Niall’s broken lips were a pasty pink, the skin peeled a bit as if he’d been chewing them. His usually white skin was abnormally gray in tint and it became apparent to Harry that Niall didn’t have much time. “I’m so glad you’re here…”

“Shh… Please babe, just save your energy. You have to get better,” but the natural brunette shook his head slightly, quivering lips curving into a small smile.

“I want you to know… That I’m so happy I met you… If it weren’t for your love and support, I don’t think I would’ve made it this far.”

“Niall…” Harry choked on his tears; eyebrows furrowed deeply, the situation growing severe. “Please… I can’t imagine a world without you. I… I love you…”

“I love you too, Harry… But it’s time…” The doctors rushed into the room when the cardiac monitor flat lined, and they readied the defibrillator, trying to revive Niall’s pulse. Harry was lost to himself, unable to understand what had actually happened. He’d lost everything, it seemed, but he didn’t understand why.

__   
"Dr. Styles, someone here to see you." 

Harry turned to the nurse, nodding. "Send them in." He requested, the woman complying as she opened the door to allow the visitor in. He still couldn't believe it. It all seemed so surreal and even a year later, Harry still considered that maybe the gods took pity on him and enabled to him to continue to love this beautiful man in the living world. He first saw the wheels of his wheelchair, then the red and white Supras, the flawless smile dashed across his face and lastly those beautiful sapphires dipped in lustrous gold. Whatever granted them the second chance, Harry couldn't have asked for anything else. "Hello, Niall." 

“Good morning, Haz,” he grinned. “I wrote another song this morning. Wanna hear?” 

“Always.”


End file.
